FRITZ LEIBER • FREDERIK POHL • WARD MOORE • RICHARD MCKENNA • RICK RAPHAEL • CORDWAINER SMITH • ARTHUR C. CLARKE • HENRY SLESAR • CHRISTOPHER ANVIL • DAMON KNIGHT • J.G. BALLARD

1960 saw science and technology gaining new victories with the invention of the laser and the successful launching of both the first communications satellite—Echo I—and the first weather satellite—Tiros I. And as what had once been science fiction became science fact, many of the authors who had envisioned these inventions were taking us still further into the future with fictional visions of discoveries yet to come, of worlds that might someday be conquered.

So let us gaze now into 1960’s not quite computerized crystal ball and view some of the possible futures which await us, from that of a woman who is about to find out who or what actually controls reality…to a farm where “golden” eggs may become the United States’ first line of defense…to a lawyer forced to learn more than he ever wanted to know about “body rental”…to a pilot who sailed the solar winds to fulfill a dream that would outlast time…

For general comments on this series, see Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 1, 1939.

1960 was not a good year for Asimov’s fiction. He only published two sf stories, “The Covenant (Part Two)” (one-fifth of a forgettable round-robin novelette) and “Thiotimoline and the Space Age” (fun, but slight), so it’s no wonder he’s left out of this volume.

And, for the matter, 1960 wasn’t a terrific year for sf in general—none of the stories in this anthology are terribly memorable. Moreover, inexplicably missing is the 1960 Hugo winner for short fiction, Daniel Keyes’ “Flowers for Algernon.” This is really overall a disappointing anthology.